1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> 2<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//Samba-Team//DTD DocBook V4.2-Based Variant V1.0//EN" "http://www.samba.org/samba/DTD/samba-doc"> 3<chapter id="Backup"> 4<chapterinfo> 5 &author.jht; 6</chapterinfo> 7 8<title>Backup Techniques</title> 9 10<sect1> 11<title>Features and Benefits</title> 12 13<para> 14<indexterm><primary>backup</primary></indexterm> 15<indexterm><primary>UNIX system files</primary></indexterm> 16<indexterm><primary>system tools</primary></indexterm> 17<indexterm><primary>Samba mailing lists</primary></indexterm> 18The Samba project is over 10 years old. During the early history 19of Samba, UNIX administrators were its key implementors. UNIX administrators 20use UNIX system tools to backup UNIX system files. Over the past 214 years, an increasing number of Microsoft network administrators have 22taken an interest in Samba. This is reflected in the questions about backup 23in general on the Samba mailing lists. 24</para> 25 26</sect1> 27 28<sect1> 29<title>Discussion of Backup Solutions</title> 30 31<para> 32<indexterm><primary>Meccano set</primary></indexterm> 33<indexterm><primary>training course</primary></indexterm> 34During discussions at a Microsoft Windows training course, one of 35the pro-UNIX delegates stunned the class when he pointed out that Windows 36NT4 is limiting compared with UNIX. He likened UNIX to a Meccano set 37that has an unlimited number of tools that are simple, efficient, 38and, in combination, capable of achieving any desired outcome. 39</para> 40 41<para> 42<indexterm><primary>networking advocates</primary></indexterm> 43<indexterm><primary>clear purpose preferred</primary></indexterm> 44One of the Windows networking advocates retorted that if she wanted a 45Meccano set, she would buy one. She made it clear that a complex single 46tool that does more than is needed but does it with a clear purpose and 47intent is preferred by some like her. 48</para> 49 50<para> 51<indexterm><primary>due diligence</primary></indexterm> 52<indexterm><primary>research</primary></indexterm> 53<indexterm><primary>backup solution</primary></indexterm> 54Please note that all information here is provided as is and without recommendation 55of fitness or suitability. The network administrator is strongly encouraged to 56perform due diligence research before implementing any backup solution, whether free 57software or commercial. 58</para> 59 60<para> 61A useful Web site I recently stumbled across that you might like to refer to 62is located at <ulink noescape="1" url="http://www.allmerchants.com/Software/Backup_Software/"> 63www.allmerchants.com</ulink>. 64</para> 65 66<para> 67The following three free software projects might also merit consideration. 68</para> 69 70 <sect2> 71 <title>BackupPC</title> 72 73 74 <para> 75 <indexterm><primary>BackupPC</primary></indexterm> 76<indexterm><primary>rsync</primary></indexterm> 77<indexterm><primary>rsyncd</primary></indexterm> 78 BackupPC version 2.0.0 has been released on <ulink url="http://backuppc.sourceforge.net">SourceForge</ulink>. 79 New features include support for <command>rsync/rsyncd</command> and internationalization of the CGI interface 80 (including English, French, Spanish, and German). 81 </para> 82 83 <para> 84<indexterm><primary>BackupPC</primary></indexterm> 85<indexterm><primary>laptops</primary></indexterm> 86<indexterm><primary>SMB</primary></indexterm> 87<indexterm><primary>smbclient</primary></indexterm> 88<indexterm><primary>tar</primary></indexterm> 89<indexterm><primary>rsh</primary></indexterm> 90<indexterm><primary>ssh</primary></indexterm> 91<indexterm><primary>rsync</primary></indexterm> 92 BackupPC is a high-performance Perl-based package for backing up Linux, 93 UNIX, and Windows PCs and laptops to a server's disk. BackupPC is highly 94 configurable and easy to install and maintain. SMB (via smbclient), 95 <command>tar</command> over <command>rsh/ssh</command>, or <command>rsync/rsyncd</command> 96 are used to extract client data. 97 </para> 98 99 <para> 100<indexterm><primary>RAID</primary></indexterm> 101<indexterm><primary>local disk</primary></indexterm> 102<indexterm><primary>network storage</primary></indexterm> 103 Given the ever-decreasing cost of disks and RAID systems, it is now 104 practical and cost effective to backup a large number of machines onto 105 a server's local disk or network storage. This is what BackupPC does. 106 </para> 107 108 <para> 109 Key features are pooling of identical files (big savings in server disk 110 space), compression, and a comprehensive CGI interface that allows users 111 to browse backups and restore files. 112 </para> 113 114 <para> 115<indexterm><primary>GNU GPL</primary></indexterm> 116 BackupPC is free software distributed under a GNU GPL license. 117 BackupPC runs on Linux/UNIX/freenix servers and has been tested 118 on Linux, UNIX, Windows 9x/Me, Windows 98, Windows 200x, Windows XP, and Mac OSX clients. 119 </para> 120 121 </sect2> 122 123 <sect2> 124 <title>Rsync</title> 125 126 <para> 127<indexterm><primary>rsync</primary></indexterm> 128<indexterm><primary>ftp</primary></indexterm> 129<indexterm><primary>http</primary></indexterm> 130<indexterm><primary>scp</primary></indexterm> 131<indexterm><primary>rcp</primary></indexterm> 132<indexterm><primary>checksum-search</primary></indexterm> 133 <command>rsync</command> is a flexible program for efficiently copying files or 134 directory trees.</para> 135 136 <para><command>rsync</command> has many options to select which files will be copied 137 and how they are to be transferred. It may be used as an 138 alternative to <command>ftp, http, scp</command>, or <command>rcp</command>.</para> 139 140 <para> 141<indexterm><primary>remote-update protocol</primary></indexterm> 142<indexterm><primary>transfer differences</primary></indexterm> 143<indexterm><primary>differences</primary></indexterm> 144 The rsync remote-update protocol allows rsync to transfer just 145 the differences between two sets of files across the network link, 146 using an efficient checksum-search algorithm described in the 147 technical report that accompanies the rsync package.</para> 148 149 <para>Some of the additional features of rsync are:</para> 150 151 <itemizedlist> 152 153 <listitem> 154 <para> 155 Support for copying links, devices, owners, groups, and permissions. 156 </para> 157 </listitem> 158 159 <listitem> 160 <para> 161 Exclude and exclude-from options are similar to GNU tar. 162 </para> 163 </listitem> 164 165 <listitem> 166 <para> 167 A CVS exclude mode for ignoring the same files that CVS would ignore. 168 </para> 169 </listitem> 170 171 <listitem> 172 <para> 173 Can use any transparent remote shell, including rsh or ssh. 174 </para> 175 </listitem> 176 177 <listitem> 178 <para> 179 Does not require root privileges. 180 </para> 181 </listitem> 182 183 <listitem> 184 <para> 185 Pipelining of file transfers to minimize latency costs. 186 </para> 187 </listitem> 188 189 <listitem> 190 <para> 191 Support for anonymous or authenticated rsync servers (ideal for 192 mirroring). 193 </para> 194 </listitem> 195 </itemizedlist> 196 197 </sect2> 198 199 <sect2> 200 <title>Amanda</title> 201 202 203 <para> 204 <indexterm><primary>Amanda</primary></indexterm> 205<indexterm><primary>native dump</primary></indexterm> 206<indexterm><primary>GNU tar</primary></indexterm> 207 Amanda, the Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver, is a backup system that 208 allows the administrator of a LAN to set up a single master backup server to back up 209 multiple hosts to a single large capacity tape drive. Amanda uses native dump and/or 210 GNU tar facilities and can back up a large number of workstations running multiple 211 versions of UNIX. Recent versions can also use Samba to back up Microsoft Windows hosts. 212 </para> 213 214 <para> 215 For more information regarding Amanda, please check the <ulink url="http://www.amanda.org/"> 216 www.amanda.org/ site</ulink>. 217 </para> 218 219 </sect2> 220 221 <sect2> 222 <title>BOBS: Browseable Online Backup System</title> 223 224 225 <para> 226 <indexterm><primary>BOBS</primary></indexterm> 227 Browseable Online Backup System (BOBS) is a complete online backup system. Uses large 228 disks for storing backups and lets users browse the files using a Web browser. Handles 229 some special files like AppleDouble and icon files. 230 </para> 231 232 <para> 233 The home page for BOBS is located at <ulink url="http://bobs.sourceforge.net/"> 234 bobs.sourceforge.net</ulink>. 235 </para> 236 237 </sect2> 238 239</sect1> 240 241</chapter> 242